The burning in my hands told me Omega Tatiana had truly meant to make my punishment a nightmare. I could almost hear her cruel laugh as I imagined her pouring oil on the floor, just to make my impossible task even harder.
It all made sense. She always found little ways to remind me I was unwanted, a burden, a mere Omega in her eyes. My chore was to scrub this entire house until it shone—a job that usually needed five maids working all day.
But tonight, I was to do it alone. It was exhausting. It was impossible.I started in the kitchen, where the heavy smell of cooked meat and herbs clung to every surface, even the walls. Outside, the warriors patrolled the gates, their steps heavy and steady, guarding the pack... and their precious Alpha.Inside, the house slept. Or seemed to.
I moved silently, like a ghost, careful not to make a sound that might wake anyone. My muscles ached. Sweat beaded on my forehead, stinging my eyes. My eyelids felt heavy with sleep, but I dared not rest. One mistake, and Tatiana would have me out.Next was the study room—a smaller space just beneath the Alpha's private study.
At least this room was mostly tidy. Thank the Moon Goddess for small mercies. As I wiped dust from an old metal shelf, my hands trembling from fatigue, something strange caught my ear.
A sound.A soft... moan.
I froze, my rag dropping from my hand.At first, I thought my tired mind was playing tricks on me. My ears must be betraying me. But then I heard it again—louder this time.
Clear. A woman's moan.
Fully awake now, a cold dread shot through me, making my heart leap in panic. The noise was coming from the Alpha's study... or very close to it.
Could it be him?
Could the cold, distant Alpha be with someone?No. No, I had to finish quickly and leave before anyone noticed I was here. My mission to stay hidden, to remain invisible, was everything.In my rush, my elbow brushed against an old, heavy book perched on the shelf. It tumbled to the floor with a loud thud. The sound seemed to echo in the silent house.
The moaning stopped.Suddenly, the door beside me creaked open slowly, like an old, hungry mouth.
It was Beta Silas.His shirt hung open, showing his bare chest, glistening with sweat. A woman's long, pale legs were wrapped around his waist, half-hidden. I stared, frozen by shock and disgust.He turned his head sharply towards the fallen book. His silver eyes gleamed like a predator catching the scent of fresh prey.
The woman with him also looked up, her eyes wide. For just a brief second, our eyes met. I gasped, then quickly ducked behind the shelf, my heart pounding violently against my ribs.Their hurried rustling filled the sudden silence as they quickly tried to dress themselves.
"I'll take care of her," Silas said coldly to the woman.
His voice was flat, without emotion. She scrambled away without a word, her hurried footsteps fading.Then, footsteps. Slow, deliberate. They were coming closer.I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing the floor would swallow me whole. Please, make me disappear.
"I know you're there," Silas's voice slithered through the room. Closer now. "You call that hiding, little maid?"I stood up slowly, trembling, my back pressed hard against the cold wall. There was no escape. Nowhere to run.He stopped right in front of me. Towering over me. His lips curled into a sick smirk that didn't reach his cold eyes. The air around him felt thick with a cloying, unpleasant scent, like stale power mixed with something dirty and hungry. It was nothing like the wild, sharp scent of the Alpha.
My wolf, deep inside me, seemed to stir with a deep, unbidden disgust.
"Were you spying on me, little maid?" he sneered, his voice dropping low, dangerous."N-no, sir," I stammered, trying to inch away, only to meet the cold, unyielding wall behind me.He laughed softly, a dark, chilling sound.
"What are you doing here at this hour?" His voice was a low growl now.My fingers clenched tightly into the worn fabric of my dress.
"I... I was ordered to clean, Beta Silas... the study rooms... the kitchen..."His eyes roamed over my face, then slowly down to my chest. A sick, hungry light flared in his gaze.
"How old are you?" he asked suddenly, his voice soft, but full of threat.My stomach twisted.
"I—I turned eighteen last month."A wide, predatory grin spread across his face. It was as if I'd given him some secret permission, some invitation.
"Eighteen," he repeated, stepping even closer.
"So... ripe."My breath hitched. His hand, warm and heavy, reached for the first button of my blouse.I flinched back, but there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. The anger, cold and familiar, of my sealed powers surged through me. If only I could use them, I wouldn't be so utterly helpless, so exposed.
"Please, sir... I'm not feeling well," I whispered, my voice shaking so hard it barely sounded like my own. Tears burned at the corners of my eyes, threatening to fall.He chuckled softly, his fingers toying with the button, pulling slowly.
"Don't worry. I'll make you feel... very good."I squeezed my eyes shut, my lips moving silently in a desperate prayer. Moon Goddess... spare me. Please... just this once.
Before his fingers could go any further—before my whispered prayer could even finish—a deep, thunderous voice rolled through the room like a crashing storm, filling the silence.
"What's happening here?"I froze. My eyes snapped open.Even Beta Silas flinched, his hand pausing mid-air, his smirk faltering for a split second.Turning slowly, that sick smirk quickly twisting back onto his lips, Silas faced the doorway.
"What do you think was happening, brother?" he drawled mockingly, his eyes cold and challenging.There, filling the doorway, stood Alpha Draco. His presence alone made the air grow thick with a sudden, charged tension, heavy and still.Silas chuckled darkly, a sound of pure arrogance, and stepped away from me—casual, unbothered by the interruption.
His predatory eyes flashed one last time at me before he slipped past the Alpha without another word. His presence still oozed danger as he left the room, vanishing down the dark corridor.I stood there trembling, my blouse half-open, the top buttons undone, exposing the curve of my chest to the cold air. My hands flew up to cover myself, shame and fear twisting violently in my stomach.
I barely noticed Alpha Draco's sharp gaze locked on me. It was cold. Calculating. But beneath the ice, his pulse quickened, a rapid beat I could almost feel thrumming in the air between us.
His dark eyes flickered with something unreadable—anger, suspicion, disgust? But then, a raw, primal flash, like a wolf's protective fury, ignited and was swiftly extinguished. It was a dangerous, unfamiliar awareness.For a long moment, he said nothing. His silence was heavier than any shout.
Then: "Just go." His voice sliced the air like a blade, sharp and dismissive. It stung, but beneath the sting, a strange, desperate relief bloomed. He was sending her away, out of the danger.
"I don't want to see you here again at this hour."His eyes never left me. Piercing. Judging. As if trying to decide whether I was truly innocent... or something else entirely, something he couldn't quite name but couldn't dismiss either.
I gathered my cleaning towel from the floor, finally noticing the undone buttons of my blouse. My cheeks burned with heat.
Had he seen?
Did he think...?I didn't care.
Not now. I had been spared. Rescued. Freed from Silas's vile hands. That was all that mattered in that moment.Without another word, I turned on shaky legs and hurried from the room, clutching my blouse closed as I ran down the dark hall, breathless and afraid.
When I finally reached the safety of my small, cold room, I collapsed against the door, my heart hammering in my chest like a trapped bird.
I had survived the night. But for how long?